Erica McKee Is Ready To Bring World Para Hockey to the Next Level

Thirty minutes before tryouts for the U.S. National Sled Team in 2006, Erica McKee was pulled aside by coaches at the tryout.

McKee was the only woman on the U.S. Men's Development Sled Hockey Team. She had been on the team since 2004 and had even been named captain of the squad as well. She was ready to take the next step in making the national team.

But in that room, a sentence would change the trajectory of her career:

"You cannot try out, because you're a female."

McKee was heartbroken. She thought to herself what comes next? She was an elite athlete and if the national team wasn't an option, where was she to go? At that time, Team USA did not have a women's sled team, and it would turn out to be the start of an uphill battle to develop one.

She described it as "a dagger to the heart" but after collecting herself, she went out onto the ice anyway and believed she still had a purpose.

"For those trials, I did go out and I tried out knowing that I wasn't going to make it, but I went out there because the rest of those guys were my teammates and I wanted them to be the best version of themselves," McKee told The Ice Garden. "I felt like I needed to be out there as their teammate, pushing them harder, [and] helping them make the team."

The 38-year-old is ready to keep pushing the limits of sled hockey as she captains Team USA at the inaugural 2025 World Para Ice Hockey Women's World Championship in Slovakia. It’s a tournament years in the making and another historic moment for the player who continues to grow alongside the sport of sled hockey.

Sled hockey also known as sledge and Para ice hockey is a sport that follows the same rules as standup hockey but with modifications that include players getting around the ice in sleds and using two sticks to skate and brake.

McKee has been playing the sport since she was nine years old. She was the first woman to make the U.S. Men's Development Sled Hockey team and was also the team's first captain.

After McKee was barred from trying out for the national team, she set her sights on developing a women's team which she accomplished in 2007 with the women's national team that operated independently. When that team was taken over by USA Hockey in 2018, they became the development team.

The team has grown over the years by taking part in events such as the 2014 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey Women's International Cup which was the first in history. That event only included three teams; the United States, Canada, and a unified team from Europe. That event later became the Para Ice Hockey Women's World Challenge in 2022, before becoming what is now known as the World Championship.

It's been a long road not only for Team USA but for McKee herself. "I'll go back to 2014 when we had our first IPC Women's Cup and that one tournament was, in my eyes, the most special tournament because that was the beginning of our journey to where we are now," she said. "We've come so far and we finally are being recognized as a women's team and it's something special that I've started from the beginning and this is the first big milestone."

Team USA is a tight-knit group. They kept tabs on each other over social media and help motivate each other while training for the tournament. It was part of a pact the players made when Worlds was confirmed; they would each show up at their best. Being able to rely on her teammates is something McKee loves, especially on days where she's not in the happiest of moods to work out and she appreciates the push from her teammates.

A majority of the team had their nails done for the tournament and one of her nails is dedicated to one of McKee's biggest supporters; her late father, Tom.

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Her dad always took her to practices and was with her at games and tournaments and knew the struggles she faced as the only woman and one of the youngest players on the team. That would factor into her being treated differently by others but McKee always tried to move past those hardships. "He would always tell me ‘Erica, life is tough, get a helmet.’"

As someone who was born disabled and a top player in a sport that is male dominated, McKee credits her dad's support as one of her motivating factors to keep pushing.

"If I would have stopped, I know my dad would have been so upset and this was our dream… he would be so proud of my journey," she described. "I'm bringing [him] with me to Worlds. I know he's gonna be there."

Her other biggest supporter is her husband Kevin, whom she met while playing together on the men's development team. She described him as the team's biggest fan and the person who has helped her during times she's questioned the reasoning behind why she continues to play.

"I have broken down and said 'what am I fighting for? There is literally nothing that I can do to make any of this better.' I'll cry it out and he'll be like you need to get back on the ice… we're doing it for the ones behind us."

What began 11 years ago with three countries has now blossomed into a competition among six countries all growing the sport of sled hockey in their community. The U.S. and Canada will be joined by Australia, Norway, Great Britain, and Team World which is made up of players from different countries.

For McKee, this progress is a communal effort coming to fruition. At the 2023 World Challenge, Team USA and Team Canada held a sled drive where donated sleds were given to other countries in hopes of helping them grow the game.

"The only way this sport is going to grow is by helping the other countries and other females get to the ice rink, get to training camps, and help them spread the word." 

Participation by women in sled hockey increased since 2022 from 0.01 percent to 19 percent according to Paralympic.org. While the United States receives funding from Team USA and Canada’s Para Hockey programs offer individual skill development, tournaments, and mentorships as well, other countries are more recent.

Australia, for example, started their Para ice program in the 1990s before restarting it in 2017 thanks to Ice Sports Victoria and the Western Australian Inclusive Skating Club that joined together to create the Australian Para Ice Hockey Association and will now send a women’s sled hockey team to the first World Championship. Though Slovakia is hosting this year’s tournament and has been a hub for Para ice hockey development over the years, the country itself does not have its own women's national team. They will have two players on Team World in this event.

McKee has battled her share of adversity while playing sled hockey and though at times the progress has been slow and the Paralympics are still not guaranteed, she knows the work she and others have put in has made a difference for the players trying to follow in her footsteps.

"It's so much better than when I started… but I think we can push it so much more to be even better,” she said.

She hopes this World Championship is the next step to get Team USA and women's sled hockey closer to the 2030 Winter Paralympic Games. Though she's been told since 2018 the sport would be included, it is yet to happen. But McKee is still focused on growing by coaching at regional camps during the summer too. Hosting the all girls practice is a delight for her and she aims to continue inspiring the younger generation of players looking for their own place to play hockey.

"For any girl that's out there now, you finally have a place in sled hockey where you can feel comfortable. Now if you're starting out as a young girl, a young player… if you wanna make that your goal to become a Paralympian, you have that chance,” she said. Team USA is aiming for gold at the inaugural world championship. McKee hopes the team can put on a good show for fans who tune in as well. They enter the tournament having swept the World Challenge tournament in all three years and having allowed zero goals.

McKee emphasizes she wants to leave the sport better than how she found it and she wants every girl's journey to be smoother than hers ever was.

"They'll never understand what I went through and I don't want them to know what I went through," she said.

"I want them to have the feeling of, I have a group of girls that I can get better with, I can go out there, I can skate hard, I can feel comfortable, I don't have to be like the guys."

You can watch the 2025 WPIH Women’s World Championship on Youtube beginning August 26. For a list of Team USA’s games - against opponents including Australia and Norway in the preliminary round - click here.